THE MIGHT OF DUAL SCREENS
Introduction: Well a while back I read a RMT that involved using dual screens to provide bulk to Pokemon that can then set up and sweep. This team was an OU team however and with the crux of the team being Uxie I though why not adapt the idea to UU. I began testing the different Pokemon behind screens to see who had the defences to really utilise the time to make them into fearsome sweepers. I have used it on the ladder however on my main so there was no way to tell my CRE or rating. Thus I came here to get some more advice before taking a serious attempt at making the leaderboards.
At a Glance
The Building Process
Well obviously I needed the dual screens to be set up somehow, Uxie's bulk makes it a great Pokemon to use for this job. It also has reasonable speed and has U-Turn to break other lead's sashes. I know it is said to never start with a lead in a team building process, however I knew at the start I wanted this Pokemon to lead the team off.
Now I had been swept multiple times by Nasty Plot Mismagius and it has pretty good special defence so behind screens this thing could easily get a Nasty Plot up.
Lapras has an excellent HP stat of 130 and water is a great defensive type, this coupled with Dragon Dance makes Lapras a great sweeper and a surprise to other teams.
Now that I had my two set up sweepers ready and I didn't really want anymore, I need a Pokemon that could come in and potentially sweep instantly. Moltres immediately came to mind and its raw power allows it to smash through so much of the current metagame.
Obviously Moltres hates stealth rocks and I need a Pokemon who can reliably clear the field of them and with Spikes support being so common in UU this addition makes a real difference to the effectiveness of the team.
Sceptile has served me well in OU as a Life Orb sweeper and I am surprised that I do not see it more in UU as the mix set can crush Stall and late game sweep.
For some reason I did not like the way in which Mismagius performed behind screens. I have used it in the past to success however it did not seem to fit the team. So I put in a Drifblim which is now my favourite Pokemon on the team and one of the most fearsome sweepers I have used.
With a bulky sweeper like Drifblim I felt that have two bulky Pokemon was a bit of a waste so I switched out for something a little more fearsome, Feraligatr. This guy after one Dragon Dance is scary, however with Screens he can easily set up two and sweep teams. With the last Pokemon in place the team was done.
Behind the Glass
Uxie
Item: Light Clay
Nature: Impish
EVs: 252 HP/ 252 Defence/ 4 Special Defence
Reflect
Light Screen
U-Turn
Stealth Rocks
The Building Process
Well obviously I needed the dual screens to be set up somehow, Uxie's bulk makes it a great Pokemon to use for this job. It also has reasonable speed and has U-Turn to break other lead's sashes. I know it is said to never start with a lead in a team building process, however I knew at the start I wanted this Pokemon to lead the team off.
Now I had been swept multiple times by Nasty Plot Mismagius and it has pretty good special defence so behind screens this thing could easily get a Nasty Plot up.
Lapras has an excellent HP stat of 130 and water is a great defensive type, this coupled with Dragon Dance makes Lapras a great sweeper and a surprise to other teams.
Now that I had my two set up sweepers ready and I didn't really want anymore, I need a Pokemon that could come in and potentially sweep instantly. Moltres immediately came to mind and its raw power allows it to smash through so much of the current metagame.
Obviously Moltres hates stealth rocks and I need a Pokemon who can reliably clear the field of them and with Spikes support being so common in UU this addition makes a real difference to the effectiveness of the team.
Sceptile has served me well in OU as a Life Orb sweeper and I am surprised that I do not see it more in UU as the mix set can crush Stall and late game sweep.
For some reason I did not like the way in which Mismagius performed behind screens. I have used it in the past to success however it did not seem to fit the team. So I put in a Drifblim which is now my favourite Pokemon on the team and one of the most fearsome sweepers I have used.
With a bulky sweeper like Drifblim I felt that have two bulky Pokemon was a bit of a waste so I switched out for something a little more fearsome, Feraligatr. This guy after one Dragon Dance is scary, however with Screens he can easily set up two and sweep teams. With the last Pokemon in place the team was done.
Behind the Glass
Uxie
Item: Light Clay
Nature: Impish
EVs: 252 HP/ 252 Defence/ 4 Special Defence
Reflect
Light Screen
U-Turn
Stealth Rocks
Comments: Uxie is a tank with 130/130 Base Defences it can take a hit or two. I Invested all of the EVs to allow it to tank those physical hits while setting up Reflect before putting a Light Screen up. If however the opposing Pokemon has no way of killing Uxie then Stealth Rocks can just go up straight away. Otherwise they can possibly go up straight after the dual screens, although sometimes I just leave them off the field. Sure they crush Moltres however with the power of my set up sweepers Moltres just does not pose that much of a problem. Uxie also provides a wall against powerful fighting moves, infact it just provides a wall against just about anything that isn't super-effective against it. Uxie's immunity to ground type attacks allows it to switch in on any Choiced User of Earthquake.
The one downside of Uxie is it's susceptibility to Taunt Users, they completely shut him down, when I know someone will Taunt I U-Turn to break the sash and then switch into an appropriate counter. I can usually bring in Uxie at some stage in the match again to set up Dual Screens against.
The one downside of Uxie is it's susceptibility to Taunt Users, they completely shut him down, when I know someone will Taunt I U-Turn to break the sash and then switch into an appropriate counter. I can usually bring in Uxie at some stage in the match again to set up Dual Screens against.
Drifblim
Nature: Modest
Item: Chesto Berry
Ability: Unburden
EVs: 12 HP/ 252 Defence/ 88 Speed/ 124 Special Attack/ 32 Special Defence
Nature: Modest
Item: Chesto Berry
Ability: Unburden
EVs: 12 HP/ 252 Defence/ 88 Speed/ 124 Special Attack/ 32 Special Defence
Calm Mind
Rest
Shadow Ball
Hidden Power Fighting
Rest
Shadow Ball
Hidden Power Fighting
Comments: I love Drifblim, this gem from NU is a beast when set up and with a whopping 150 Base HP behind dual screens its pathetic defences actually allow it to take hits. To give you an idea of just how strong this thing is it has survived a Thunder from an Ampharos. The idea behind this set is to switch in after you have screens up before using Calm Mind. From there judge if you can tank another hit before resting, if so Calm Mind again. After you have calm minded up simply Rest and allow you Chesto Berry to wake you up while activating Unburden. This will give you +1/2 Special Attack and Defence and +2 Speed. Now unleash your STAB Shadow Ball and HP Fighting to hit those pesky dark types and normal types.
Even if they have STAB priority moves it won't hurt Drifblim much as it just has so much HP. This guy is a bitch to get down and can easily sweep whole teams if they don't have a serious counter to Drifblim.
Even if they have STAB priority moves it won't hurt Drifblim much as it just has so much HP. This guy is a bitch to get down and can easily sweep whole teams if they don't have a serious counter to Drifblim.
Feraligatr
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Torrent
Item: Life Orb
EVs: 28 HP/ 252 Attack/ 228 Speed
Dragon Dance
Waterfall
Ice Punch
Return
Moltres
Nature: Modest
Item: Life Orb
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Special Attack/ 252 Speed/ 4 Special Defence
Fire Blast
Air Slash
Hidden Power Grass
Roost
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Torrent
Item: Life Orb
EVs: 28 HP/ 252 Attack/ 228 Speed
Dragon Dance
Waterfall
Ice Punch
Return
Comments: Feraligatr has the benefit of being a bulky water type as well as having great stats for Dragon Dancing off. He is the Gyarados of UU. After one Dragon Dance this thing is scary however after two he is just a pure monster. Waterfall is just the usual STAB move for a physical sweep, Ice Punch allows him to hit the ever common Flying types and Grass types that threaten Feraligatr. Return is just a powerful physical move to hit anything that resists Waterfall and is not hit for super effective damage by Ice Punch. Other than that this thing is a pretty standard set.
Hitmontop
Nature: Impish
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP/ 252 Defence/ 4 Attack
Close Combat
Rapid Spin
Sucker Punch
Stone Edge
Nature: Impish
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP/ 252 Defence/ 4 Attack
Close Combat
Rapid Spin
Sucker Punch
Stone Edge
Comments: Hitmontop is my spinner and he does a damn good job of it, he can tank hits like a champ before spinning away any rocks. Now it is standard to use Foresight on this kind of Hitmontop I went for Sucker Punch instead. This allows for Hitmontop to destroy Mismagius and Alakazam that come in and attempt to kill it. Although this reduces the chance of Rapid Spinning if they have a Spin Blocker I find that most of the time I am able to get them spun away.
Moltres
Nature: Modest
Item: Life Orb
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Special Attack/ 252 Speed/ 4 Special Defence
Fire Blast
Air Slash
Hidden Power Grass
Roost
Comment: This beast is the King of UU in my opinion, once SR are gone he can come in and destroy pretty much anything. I use Moltres as my primary mop, after one of the sweeps from Feraligatr or Drifblim he can come in and clean up at least one Pokemon before being forced to switch out. I find Moltres really holds the team together with his raw special power and his ability to PP stall out weak Pokemon trying to take advantage of his flying type.
Sceptile
Nature: Naive
Item: Expert Belt
Ability: Overgrow
EVs: 252 Attack/ 80 Special Attack/ 176 Speed
Lead Storm
Focus Blast
Earthquake
Rock Slide
Nature: Naive
Item: Expert Belt
Ability: Overgrow
EVs: 252 Attack/ 80 Special Attack/ 176 Speed
Lead Storm
Focus Blast
Earthquake
Rock Slide
Comments: The stall breaker of the team and boy does he do it well. He can do it in OU with a different set and he does it in UU with this one. Leaf Storm hits for huge damage on anything that does not outright resist it. It also lures in Moltres switch ins by bluffing Specs and then OHKOs back with Rock Slide. The all around coverage allows for Sceptile to break through stall or even pull of a late game sweep. He also completes the Grass/Water/Fire core of the team, although they are not bulky, behind screens they can tank hits and force switches, whilst hitting others for huge damage.
Endnotes
I will be listening and testing any suggestions that would appear to prove helpful. So please go out and find the holes in this team, but remember to suggest ways to fill them and not just point them out. Thanks.
